The Night is for Loving
by Spirit Star
Summary: Short Elrond and Celebrian fic.


Disclaimer: Nope, none of the characters belong to me, nor the original plot by Tolkien.  
  
  
  
The Night is for Loving  
  
Spirit Star  
  
  
  
  
  
"Elrond?"  
  
  
  
He turned and looked at her blankly before rewarding her with a smile. He shut the book he had been so intently bent upon that he had not noticed her presence in the room and stood up to welcome her, opening his arms in an invitation.  
  
  
  
She smiled and walked forward swiftly into his embrace.  
  
  
  
"Hervenn," she chided softly, almost coyly as she encircled his neck and laid her head upon his shoulder, feeling the meticulous embroidery of his silk robes pressing on her cheek. "You are so into your books that you did not recognize me!"  
  
  
  
"No!" his response was sharp and quick and she was suddenly stricken when he heard his tone and felt a twang of worry spring from his mind.  
  
  
  
She lifted her head off his shoulder and pulled back a little so she could peer into his face. He was watching her with remorse in his eyes so she offered him an apologetic smile and cupped a hand to his face.  
  
  
  
Suddenly she was only too aware of his arms encircling her waist and his warm breath meeting hers and his eyes shining with intensity and a hurt that had come in reply to her careless taunt.  
  
  
  
"I'm…sorry?" she offered meekly, her statement becoming a question in her uncertainty and divided attention.  
  
  
  
His eyes softened and he struggled hard to keep the sorrow in his face long enough to achieve the effect he wanted. He almost smiled, but repressed it with an effort, the result being a cold expression that he immediately regretted.  
  
  
  
"Elrond?" she asked him, looking for reassurance, "Melethron-nin…forgive me?"  
  
  
  
He had waited for this, and narrowed his eyes. "Only if…" he said seriously.  
  
  
  
"Only if?" she answered, eager to chase away the hurt.  
  
  
  
Their lips met and welcomed each other, first lightly, then almost hungrily. Suddenly, one pulled away and the other let a soft groan escape his lips. He looked almost annoyed and gazed into the face his laughing wife, who squirmed a little in his arms.  
  
  
  
"A trick!" she gasped, still giggling. "I was beginning to think you incapable of any such thing!"  
  
  
  
"Not quite," he said as seriously as he could; her laughter was contagious. "You still need to earn your forgiveness."  
  
  
  
The other's laughter died down to a wistful smile and a dream suspended itself in her eyes. Their lips met again and it was bliss for both, as they had not met each other in such a way for a long time; Celebrian had returned to her mother's people for a season.  
  
  
  
Re-exploring each other thoroughly, they clung to each other tightly and stopped to take breath and whisper their promises to each other before resuming. At last, they broke apart gasping for breath and eyes shining.  
  
  
  
By silent consent, they both joined again and this time the kiss was less passionate, but more needy than before.  
  
  
  
"Let us away," Celebrian whispered to her husband, her eyes suggestive but her face impassive and innocent.  
  
  
  
Elrond, who knew her well, smiled down at her and agreed, his book long forgotten and the earlier visit from Mithrandir already pushed forcefully back for the time being. Seeing his wife was enough for him to long to forget his troubles, at least for a little while.  
  
  
  
She kissed him again in way of consent, and laughed when he told her that she was not getting them anywhere.  
  
  
  
"Tir-im an le pan fuin ah i undomiel," he whispered to her as he offered his arm as she stepped out of his embrace.  
  
  
  
"Your father's star?" she asked in answer, taking his arm and squeezing it fondly. When he nodded, she glanced up into his face and saw the love that alighted there and was sober for a while at the intensity of it and mirrored the look with her own.  
  
  
  
"The same," he answered with a smile and they walked from the library into the gardens below and stopped for a while by a small waterfall and gazed into the white foam that formed underneath. Laughing together at the rainbow formed by the mist under the pale moonlight and recounting the time that they had spent there, they felt themselves once again at a more peaceful time that was locked away in their minds.  
  
  
  
Moving on, they strolled silently and casually past straying elves who greeted them politely and kept walking until their footsteps carried them to a secret grove covered by trees. There, a larger waterfall roared and drowned out most sounds save the ones that the lovers whispered in each other's ears.  
  
  
  
Elrond pulled her towards him and she consented eagerly.  
  
  
  
"Celebrian…" and he kissed her under the fall, their gasps of delight absorbed into the sound of the roaring water.  
  
  
  
"Won't they be looking for you?" she asked him slyly as he broke the kiss. He paused to consider, then grinned.  
  
  
  
"No," he said. "I don't think they will find me to-night."  
  
  
  
Her reply was lost in the roaring of the water, that a while later, seemed to hold witness to all that happened on its banks that clear, starry evening.  
  
  
  
  
  
The End  
  
  
  
Hervenn-----husband  
  
Tir-im an le pan fuin ah i undomiel-----I looked for you every night with the evenstar (in this case, Earendil's star as Arwen has not been born yet) 


End file.
